Automobile-jack.



C. A. HART.

AUTOMOBILE JACK.

APPLICATION FILED APR.5, 1912. T.@Ta Patented 001. 21, 1913.

@WDM/1430@ C. A. HART.

AUTOMOBILE JACK.

APPLICATION FILED APR.5, 1912.

ll, Patented 0015.21, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

CHARLES HART, 0F FINDLAY, UH'I.

TOMOB'ILE-J'ACK.

specmeafien of Letters Patent. application mea April 5, 1:51a serial No. 688,659,

Patented oet. e1, 1913,

To all @baum it may 'conc-em:

B it known that I; Ctimaas A; HART, a citizen of the' United States;` residing at Findlay, in the cciity of Hancock and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Impdver'nents` in Automobile- Jacks, of which the following is a specification.'

My previous applications for patent, Se; ria-l Ndmbers 654,870 and 671,917,- filei Ocl tober 16, 1911, and Januar, 18, 1912; respectively, disclose a special ype of jack dei signed particiilarly for elevating the bodyv of an automobile whereby to siipport the same so that the Weight of. the machine is not carried by the customarily inflated' tir'es of the wheels. .It has been found! that considerable damageis sustained .by these tirs when an atmobile or' simiar veliicle is stationary for an length of time, as when housed in a gara and a simple con'stnction of jack for the purpses -df the inveri# tion has been produced by me;

The present invention embodies cetain improvements in my previus inventions of the applications above identified: t

I have found' it desirable', ih order that my jack may belusd in 'connection with diti'er'ent types o'f tired' vehicles, that the elevating standards of the jack sh' il be adjustable to accommodate fo di ernt heights of axles which are engaged with said standards in th operation of the device. In actual practice, fthrmore, the wheels of difi'eren't types of automobiles are spaced apart different distances and another feature of the invention resides in tlie provision of means forming a part of the jack whereby the Ylifting standards may be adjusted towardl'and from fi another.

Subsidiary to the last mentioned feature of the present invention; since my lifting device e'oinpis'es fuierin einbers ldcated at one side of the standards,` I haiie pro- `tid'ed means whereby' a reversal f the position of eacli standard with its fnic'runi mmbei, upon a transverse support or 'crosspiece; will atford an advantageds range of adjustment, slich as is necessary under some bonditions:

Still another featne the invention resides inthe provision oa special connection between the dners which initially eivate the vehicle' opefated'upon by tlie jack; and the fdlcrum members, noli coheetitm permitting' a free lifting movement of said fulcrum members and standards carried thereby, notwithstanding that the runners remain stationary;

Some iiiotor vehicles are so designed that the steering odv drag-bar is located in front 'of the aile and in the use of my pre,- irioiis jack constructions, said rod prevents i operation of the jack, as contemplated,

namely by engagement of the frdnt axle with the standards direct; I therefore provide as a part of the present improvements, brackets or members at theupper ends of the lifting standards adapted to be," engaged by -the steering rod' of nachiii'es of the. last mentioned type, whereby the tilting of the jack in rai'sinn the vehicle` is caused primarily by coeration oie the steering rod with said brackets or membes instead of by 'copertion of the' axle directly with the staiidds.

The present invntion also involves other details of bnstrcti increasing the practical litility of my invention, and which will be understdod upon reference to the following detail description and to the accompanying drawings,- in whiclr-1 Figline 1 is a pespective view of a jack embodying the essential features of the preseilt ini-proveniente. Fig.' 2 is a side view of the jaclniull lines showing theJ same in position ready to receiife thereon the axle of a motor vehicle, and dotted lines showing the position assumed by the parts after levaion df the plitioil of the Vehicle with which the jack cooperates; Fig. 3 is a side eleva-l tion showing a modified form of adjustable stiinclard, and a modified construct-ion of bracket member to be engaged by the steer-A ing rod: Figs. iis a top plan vie'w of the preferred embodiment of the invention but showing the adjdstment 'of the' "standards obtained by reversing the saine up'o the cross-- piece or rdda Fig; I5 isa front view Iiatly broken awayl f one of thle standards and associated parte; Fig.' 6 is' a View similar to' Eig: 5, showing the mdiition of Fig. 3. Fig. is a view ofthe 'partsshown in Fig; 5; lookin toward theleai". Fi 8 is a vertical sect onal view of theL stan ar'd of pre'- ferred onstixctioir, .the u'lcr'm member being` broken away. Figs. 9 and 150 are per-- spectii'e views ofthe preferedandimodrfied forms, respectively, 0f tilting bracket niembefrs: t

Throughout the following detail description and on the several figures of the drawings, similar parts are referred to by like reference characters.

Describing, the invention specifically, in the drawings, 1 denotes the lifting standards and 2 the base or fulcrum members of said standards. The members 2 are secured in any rigid or substantial manner to the standards 1 at one side of the latter, and each member 2 is formed on its bottom portion with a bearing surface 2 adapted to 4support its standards when in an upright or vertical position and an auxiliary inclined bearing surface 2 adapted to support said standard in a position slightly inclined orl tilted with respect to a vertical plane, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. Applied to each base or fulcrum member 2 and secured to its surface 2 is a plate 3 provided with ears 4 at its rear end and in which ears is journaled a roller 5, the latter being, of course, located at the rear extremity of the adjacent member 2. Adjacent to the fulcrum port-ion, or the angle at which the surfaces 2 and 2 of each member 2 meet, is a link 6 pivoted at 7 at its upper end to the member 2, thelower end of said link being pivotally connected at 8 with a second link 9. The last mentioned link 9 is in turn pivoted at its front end to a runner 10, as shown at 11. It will be understood that the runner 10 is yassociated with each of the fulcrum members 2, as in my previous'constructions of jack, and the parts G and 9 constitute a connection between the associated runner and fulcrum member.

The standards and fulcrum members above referred to are arranged in pairs and each pair is adjustable toward and from the other pair by the provision of a cross-bar or rod 12 which passes at opposite ends through openings in the fulcrum members 2 and is seated in recesses 13 in the front sides of the standards 1. Adjustable tension membersy in the form of hooks 14, having the nuts 15, pass approximately horizontally through the standards 1 andare arranged so that the hooks thereof engage the crossbar 12 so as to rigidly connect the parts 1 and 2 therewith, but in such a manner as to permit adjustment of each pair of standard and fulcrum members toward and from one another by merely loosening the connections 14 and obtaining the desired adjustment.

As shown in Fig. 1, the standards 1 are at their maximum adjustment from one another, so far as longitudinal movement of the bar' 12 is concerned. Since the standards 1 are on the inner sides of the fulcrum members, however, an increase of space between said standards may be obtained readily by entirely detaching the members 1 and 2 from the bar 12, and reversing the same thereon to assume the positions shown in Fifrw4, as distinguished Vfrom the positions sh'.v n in Fig. 1. The reversal aforesaid will result in a disposition of the standards 1 at the outer sides of their fulcrum members, whiclris their maximum adjustment apart. n

The pivots 7 forming a part of the linl connections between .the runners and fulcrum members preferably comprise detachable fastenings or screws engaging the ends of the cross-bar 12 and when the standards 1 are reversed, as shown in Fig. 4, a reversal of the runners 10 from one end of the cross-bar 12 to the other, is necessary, and effected merely by detaching the fastening pivots 7. As a matter of fact, the pivots 7 have to be detached from the bar 12'before the reversal of the standards 1 and members 2 can be effected. The standards 1 are adjustable as they each comprise a body or lower sec-tion and the upper adjustable section 1, the latter being preferably of U- form in side elevation and having its sides toothed on their inner faces, as shown at a. The teeth a are adapted to engage with corresponding teeth b of plates 16 attached to the front and rear portions of each standard. Horizontal fastening bolts 17 pass through the body section of the standards 1 and through slots 18 in the adjustable sections to hold said parts at a' proper adjustment. In effecting the relative adjustment of the sections of each standard, the adjustyable section 1 is displaced from the body section by lateral movement disengaging the teeth a and b and other teeth a are engaged with the teeth of the plates 16 so as to secure the adjustable section 1 at a lower or higher adjustment than previouslyhad.y

In Fig. 3 is illustrated a modified form of adjustable section 1a for the standard 1, said section 1a consisting of a-U-shaped member, the sides of which have a plurality of apertures, through whichtthe bolts 17 may paSS to adjustably connect the adjustable section with the body section. In the case of both the preferred and'modiied `forms of the adjustable sections 1 and 1, a stop or projection 19 and 19 respectively, is employed and arranged to extend upwardly from the section for engagement with the axleof a vehicle to initially tilt the jack in the raising operation.

. Where the automobile has a steering rod ets 20, which are detachably and a justably j applied to the rear sides of thestandards.

When the steering rod engages the stops A,or stop brackets 20, as shown in Fig. 1, an up- Loveee v ward tilting movement will be imparted to the standards only after the front axle of the vehicle is above saidy standards so that the lifting operation performed by the jack will elevate the axle and its wheels and no likelihood of bending or damaging the steering rod is incurred.

In the practical use of the invention, the parts are, of course, arranged as in Fig. l and the automobile is driven forwardly until the front wheels pass on to the runners l0. ln kthe movement of the vehicle, the front axle Will engage the stops 19 and impart an upward movement `to the standards l until they assume vertical positions, the fulcrum members 2 being tilted also in the above operation so as to obtain the necessary elevation required to raise the axle until the weight of the front portion of the vehicle is supported by the jack and not by the tires of the wheels. As the jack is tilted in the above manner, the runners l0 remain stationary, the links 6 and 9 affording a floating or flexible connection, permitting such action. If there be any tendency on the part of the vehicle to pass over the ack after the standards l assume vertical positions, such tendency will only exert a pushing movement upon the jack causing the same to skid slightly on the rollers 5 in the direction of movement of the vehicle.

As shown in Fig. 2, when the fulcrum member tilts to its horizontal position, the tendency of the links 6 and 9 is to assume a position in alinement, though full alinement is not obtained.

As shown in Figs. 3, (3 and l0, a modified form of the auxiliary stop or bracket 20 is employed and designated 20. It consists merely of a curved bar adjustable longitudinally and vertically by fastenings 22, upon a side of each standard l.

It will be understood, of course, that the jack, as described herein, after operation to elevate one end of a vehicle, may be associated with other jacks or jack means for raising the opposite end of said vehicle, and further the invention is susceptible for use With any type of vehicle irrespective of whether it is motor propelled or not. Furthermore slight changes in the detail contruction of the invention are contemplated by the foregoing description and scope of the claims hereto appended.

Having thus described the invention, what l claim as new is:

l. An automatic jack of the class described comprising a cross-bar, a fulcrum member at each end of said bar, a standard rigidly connected to said fulcrum member for movementtherewith and arranged at one side thereof, and fastening means connecting each standard and cross-bar and permitting reversal thereof upon the cross-bar whereby t-he standards may be arranged either at the inner or outer sides of the fulcrum members.

2. An automatic jack comprising a cross bar, fulcrum members mounted thereon, standards carried by the fulcrum members, and hook bars passing through the standards and detachably engaged with the cross bar.

3. An automatic jack comprising standards,-a base or fulcrum member rigidly connected to each standard at one side thereof and adapted to support the standards in tilted and vertical positions, a cross-bar, and fastening means on the standards connecting the same with the cross-bar for adjustment toward and from one another.

ln testimony whereof I alfiximy signature in presence of two Witnesses.

v CHARLES A. HART.

Witnesses:

H. M. BROOKS, H. C. RoBB. 

